What is tech neck and how it affects your spine; tips to tackle it

Tech neck also known as text neck is a common issue these days because of the excessive use of mobile phones and sedentary jobs that require one to sit in front of screens for hours. It often starts with discomfort around the neck area, shoulders and back. It could also cause stabbing pain, headaches, neck stiffness, jaw pain or numbness in arms and hands. The condition happens because of the awkward posture of neck that leads to strain on cervical spine and supportive muscles. When you bend your neck forward to look at your screen or mobile for prolonged time, it results in this condition. (Also read: Common posture mistakes we all make; how to correct bad posture)

Studies have proven that just bending the neck forward by 15 degrees puts around 12.5 kg of additional weight on our neck. This increases to 16 kg at 30 degrees and 27.2 kg at 60 degrees of neck flexion. This leads to significant increase in the load over cervical spine making it prone to minor as well as major injuries.

We may not be realising but putting our neck in such discomfort for longer periods can permanently affect joints and cervical spine.

"The cervical intervertebral discs and facet joints; due to continuous abnormal posture and higher loading; leads to very early disc degeneration and arthritis of facet joints known as cervical Spondylosis. These changes are irreversible and often progressive," says Dr Harshal Bamb, Consultant & Spine Surgeon Global Hospital, Parel Mumbai.

To fix tech neck, one must take immediate measures to correct posture. You should make sure to use the screen at eye level and also take breaks between the work and stretch your muscles.

Dr Bamb offers useful tips to prevent tech neck.

1. Correct posture and ergonomics

Make sure that ergonomics at work as well as during screen usage is corrected. A thumb rule of “chin parallel to the ground should sort most of postural issues. Use of stands, laptop raises and arranging desktops at eye level would be preferred ergonomic changes.

2. Intermittent rest and stretches

No matter what postural corrections and ergonomics we look after, prolonged continuous posture leads to muscle fatigue thereby causing neck pain and degeneration. The best bet is to break the cycle of prolonged posture of a single position. Intermittent rest in a reclined position to offload the weight transmission of head over neck proves effective. Also, intermittent stretches increase blood supply to muscle, maintains tone and reduce muscle fatigue.

3. Improve muscle strength

The trapezius muscle and scapulothoracic muscles are dynamic neck stabilisers. These provide the strong support to cervical spine. Improving their strength and maintaining good muscle tone is proven to delay the degeneration as well as improve the neck symptoms.

4. Last but not the least- Attitude change

Reduce the gadget dependence, inculcate the active lifestyle changes and good diet holistically helps the spine and body. These changes are attitude and personality changes, require effort and will but are a sureshot ways to protect your spine and body.

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